Preview: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Leeds United - prediction, team news, lineups

Leeds will endeavour to preserve their unbeaten start to the 2026-27 Premier League season when they travel to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon.

These two teams faced each other on the penultimate weekend of last season, with the Whites claiming a slender 1-0 victory at Elland Road courtesy of a 96th-minute goal from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Match preview

After dismantling Aston Villa with an emphatic 4-0 home victory on the opening weekend of the new season, Brighton were given a reality check at Stamford Bridge last Sunday, as they ended up on the losing side in a 4-3 thriller against Chelsea.

The Seagulls are just the second team since 1950 to score at least four goals in their first game of an English top-flight season and then concede 4+ in their second match, after Blackpool in 2010-11 (won first 4-0 against Wigan, lost second 6-0 versus Arsenal).

In addition, Fabian Hurzeler’s men averaged 73.1% possession against Aston Villa and 74.1% possession versus Chelsea. Should they control at least 70% of the ball again this weekend, they will become the first side on record (since 2003-04) to hit that benchmark in each of their first three games of a Premier League season.

Hurzeler was ‘frustrated’ to come away from West London empty handed from a contest they scored three away goals and controlled for large spells, but he was still able to take away “a lot of positives” from a much-improved second-half display.

Attention now shifts to Leeds, and Brighton should be confident of success on Saturday, as they have not lost any of their previous 10 home league encounters with the Whites (W7 D3), remarkably keeping eight consecutive clean sheets at the Amex.

Leeds have made an unbeaten start to the new season, with consecutive away wins without reply against Nottingham Forest (1-0 in the PL and 2-0 in the EFL Cup) followed by a 1-1 draw with Brentford at Elland Road last weekend.

The Whites were second best in a first half dominated by the Bees, who opened the scoring on the stroke of half time through Kevin Schade. However, Daniel Farke’s men salvaged a point thanks to Calvert-Lewin’s 79th-minute equaliser.

Back-to-back away trips against Brighton and Chelsea (EFL Cup) are up next for Leeds. Remarkably, their two victories on the road so far this term leave them just one win short of equalling their away win tally from the entirety of last season across all competitions (W3 D12 L8 across 23 away matches).

Farke’s side won their last top-flight fixture against Brighton in May, the aforementioned 1-0 win at Elland Road, but they have not won successive league matches versus the Seagulls since a three-game streak between October 2008 and November 2009 when they were competing in League One.

Leeds have been struck by the Amex curse over the years, though, as they have played more matches without winning at Brighton’s home stadium than any other ground in their entire history (10). A total of 34 Leeds players have had a shot on goal there without success since the 2013-14 campaign.

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):

Leeds United Premier League form:

Leeds United form (all competitions):

Team News

Brighton’s mounting injury list includes Jack Hinshelwood (unspecified), Yankuba Minteh (leg), Kaoru Mitoma (thigh), Mats Wieffer (knee) Stefanos Tzimas (knee) and Evan Ferguson (ankle), while Georginio Rutter and Yasin Ayari are both doubts after missing the defeat at Chelsea.

Charalampos Kostoulas could retain his starting spot up front if Rutter is not deemed fit to feature, but Hurzeler may be tempted to hand new signing Promise David his full debut in attack.

Deadline Day signings Chema Andres and Femi Azeez are both in contention to make their debuts in some capacity, while fellow new recruit Costinha could be handed his first start for the club at right-back in the absence of Wieffer.

Pascal Gross, who scored one goal and contributed to another against Chelsea, is set to continue in midfield. The 35-year-old could become the fourth German player to make 250 PL appearances after Dietmar Hamann, Robert Huth and Bernd Leno.

As for Leeds, Joe Rodon is facing eight to 10 weeks on the sidelines with a “serious hamstring” injury, and Mateo Joseph (knee) remains sidelined, but Ilia Gruev (knee) has returned to training and may be named in the matchday squad on Saturday.

In the absence of Rodon, new signing Nico Elvedi could be handed his first PL start alongside Jaka Bijol and Tarik Muharemovic in a three-man defence, while it remains to be seen whether Gabriel Gudmundsson will be deemed ready to start at left wing-back.

Deadline Day signings Melvin Bard and Jean-Matteo Bahoya are both in contention to make their debuts, with the latter set to compete with Noah Okafor, Harry Wilson and Brendan Aaronson for a start in attack.

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:

Verbruggen; Costinha, Vuskovic, Dunk, Kadioglu; Ayari, Yalcouye; Gomez, Gross, De Cuyper; Rutter

Leeds United possible starting lineup:

Trafford; Elvedi, Bijol, Muharemovic; Bogle, Stach, Ampadu, Justin; Wilson, Okafor; Calvert-Lewin

We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-2 Leeds United

Fans could be treated to an entertaining, end-to-end spectacle on the South Coast, with both Brighton and Leeds possessing plenty of quality going forward.

The visitors have historically struggled on their travels to the Amex in recent years, but they boast the offensive credentials to exploit a Brighton backline that shipped four goals last time out. The Seagulls should also have plenty of joy in the final third in what could be a high-scoring draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.